Federer shines in New York rain

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Tuesday, September 02, 2014

NEW YORK - Five-time champion Roger Federer sat out a two-hour break for torrential rain to race into the US Open fourth round yesterday on a stormy, humid New York day which saw David Ferrer crash to defeat.

Second-seeded Federer, the champion between 2004-2008, came back from a set down to defeat Spain's Marcel Granollers 4-6 6-1 6-1 6-1 by racing away with 20 of the last 24 games of the match which had been interrupted due to rain and the threat of lightning.

Federer, bidding to become the oldest grand slam champion in more than 40 years, clinched his 70th win at the tournament on the back of 57 winners and 13 aces.

But the 33-year-old had struggled in the first set where he slipped to 2-5 down against the world No.42 before he grasped welcome respite in the locker room to sit out the storm.

"The break helped me and when I came back I played some great tennis. The conditions were windy and quick at the start but when we got back it was humid and that played in my favour," Federer said.

Federer will face Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the quarter-finals.

Gilles Simon sent Spanish fourth seed Ferrer crashing to his earliest US Open defeat in five years with a 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-3 win.

The 26th seeded Simon capitalised on the 52 unforced errors of the 32-year-old Ferrer, a semi-finalist in 2007 and 2012, who appeared to struggle physically towards the end of their third-round clash.

Simon goes on to face Marin Cilic of Croatia, who beat South Africa's Kevin Anderson 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 for a place in the quarter-finals in a clash of two men who both missed the 2013 US Open.

Simon was back in France for the birth of his second child while Cilic was serving out a doping ban.

Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych, a semi-finalist in 2012, beat Georgian-born Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-3 6-2 6-4 and next plays Dominic Thiem of Austria, the youngest player in the top 50 at just 20.

Thiem, who turns 21 tomorrow90, reached his first grand slam last 16 with an impressive 6-4 6-2 6-3 win over left-handed serve-and-volleyer Feliciano Lopez of Spain who is 12 years his senior.

Bulgarian seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov, who had never won a match in New York in three appearances before this year, is a potential quarter-final opponent of Federer.

The 23-year-old Dimitrov plays Belgium's David Goffin, the world No.56, for the first time.